Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a new EU approach to the detection and mitigation of CBRN-E risks

The EU, its Member States and other key partners have undertaken numerous activities to improve the ability to prevent chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) and explosives incidents and protect citizens, institutions and infrastructure against such incidents.

More needs to be done however. Following the progress reports under the EU CBRN Action Plan and under the Action Plan on Enhancing the Security of Explosives in 2012, extensive consultation took place with Member States and other stakeholders on how best to address these issues. A new CBRN-E Agenda was set out to focus on key priorities to be addressed at EU level.

The Council in its conclusions adopted on 11 December 2012 "underlines the need to identify areas with insufficient security arrangements and to focus on and prioritise further common efforts to enhance the security of production, storage, handling and transportation of high-risk CBRN and E materials. Furthermore the Council encourages the Commission ‘to use the EU Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Action Plan, and the Action Plan on Enhancing the Security of Explosives, as a foundation for creating a revised policy.’

This communication is a first step in implementing the new CBRN-E Agenda. It aims to bring about progress in the area of detection of CBRN-E threats, and put effective measures in place for detecting and mitigating these threats and risks at EU level.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)247: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:247:FIN

ESO: Background information: Boosting Europe's defence against terrorism http://www.europeansources.info/record/proposal-to-facilitate-practical-cooperation-for-the-detection-and-mitigation-of-cbrn-e-risks/

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